Mars Attacks!
Mars Attacks! | |
---|---|
Larry J. Franco | |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Peter Suschitzky |
Edited by | Chris Lebenzon |
Music by | Danny Elfman |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 106 minutes[2] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $80 million |
Box office | $101.4 million |
Mars Attacks! is a 1996 American
Alex Cox had tried to make a Mars Attacks film in the 1980s before Burton and Gems began development in 1993. When Gems turned in his first draft in 1994, Warner Bros. commissioned rewrites from Gems, Burton, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski in an attempt to lower the budget to $60 million. The final production budget came to $80 million, while Warner Bros. spent another $20 million on the Mars Attacks! marketing campaign. Filming took place from February to June 1996. The film was shot in California, Nevada, Kansas, Arizona and Argentina.[not verified in body]
The filmmakers hired
Plot
When
Against the advice of the hawkish General Decker, Dale chooses to greet the Martians as foreign dignitaries, ordering military officer General Casey to welcome them to Earth. Billy-Glenn, a private in the
Kessler convinces Dale that the Martians' attack in Nevada may have been the result of a cultural misunderstanding, and Dale agrees to let the Martian ambassador address Congress after the Martians issue a formal apology for their actions. Once again, the Martians turn on the assembled humans, annihilating most of Congress by turning them into skeletons and abducting Kessler. While Nathalie and Kessler are held captive in the Martian mothership, the Martians switch Nathalie and Poppy's heads and reduce Kessler to a disembodied head.
Dale narrowly survives an assassination attempt by a Martian disguised as an attractive blonde woman, who infiltrates the
In Las Vegas, Barbara prepares to flee to
Eventually, Martian soldiers breach Dale's secure bunker, crushing Decker after reducing him to minuscule size with a shrink ray, then leveling their weapons on everyone else in the bunker, causing many to be turned into skeletons while others flee the bunker, leaving Dale the last alive in the room. He makes an eloquent, impassioned speech exhorting the Martians to make peace with humanity, but the now teary-eyed Martian leader stabs him with a fake-hand-prank device after offering a handshake.
Barbara, Byron, Cindy, and Jones reach Art's plane, but find the runway overrun by a group of Martians led by the Martian ambassador. To buy time for his companions to escape, Byron steps forward to challenge the ambassador to a boxing match, and beats him to death before being seemingly overrun by Martians as the plane takes off. Around the world, the Martians are defeated as humans play "Indian Love Call" to destroy them, resulting in Kessler, Nathalie and Poppy's death as the ship they are on crashes.
In the aftermath of the war with the Martians, the Dales' teenage daughter Taffy awards the Medal of Honor to Richie and Florence. In Washington, D.C., Byron – who survived his encounter with the Martians – walks up to Louise's home to greet his family. In Tahoe, Barbara, Cindy, and Jones emerge unharmed from a cavern.
Cast
- Jack Nicholson as US President James Dale and Art Land (Galaxy Casino owner)
- Glenn Close as First Lady Marsha Dale (James's wife)
- Annette Bening as Barbara Land (Art's wife)
- Pierce Brosnan as Professor Donald Kessler
- Danny DeVito as Rude Gambler (lawyer)
- Martin Short as White House Press Secretary Jerry Ross
- Sarah Jessica Parker as Nathalie Lake
- Michael J. Fox as Jason Stone
- Rod Steiger as General Decker
- Tom Jones as himself
- Lukas Haas as Richie Norris
- Natalie Portman as Taffy Dale (James and Marsha's daughter and Richie's love-interest)
- Jim Brown as Byron Williams (retired boxer)
- Lisa Marie as Martian girl
- Sylvia Sidney as Grandma Florence Norris (Richie's paternal grandmother)
- Paul Winfield as General Casey
- Pam Grier as Louise Williams (Byron's ex-wife)
- Jack Black as Billy-Glenn Norris (Richie's older brother)
- Janice Rivera as Cindy
- Ray J as Cedric Williams (Byron & Louise's son)
- Brandon Hammond as Neville Williams (Byron & Louise's son)
- Joe Don Baker as Glenn Norris (Richie's father)
- O-Lan Jones as Sue-Ann Norris (Richie's mother)
- Christina Applegate as Sharona (Billy-Glenn's girlfriend and trailer-park lover)
- Brian Haley as Mitch (secret service)
- Jerzy Skolimowski as Dr. Zeigler
- Timi Prulhiere as tour guide
- Barbet Schroeder as French president (Maurice)
- Chi Hoang Cai as Mr. Lee
- Tommy Bush as hillbilly farmer on tractor
- Joseph Maher as decorator
Other notable actors to appear in the film include Willie Garson as Corporate Guy, John Roselius as GNN Boss, Michael Reilly Burke and Valerie Wildman as GNN Reporters, Rebecca Broussard as a Hooker, Steve Valentine as TV Director, Enrique Castillo as Hispanic Colonel, John Finnegan as Speaker of the House, Gregg Daniel as Lab Technician, and J. Kenneth Campbell as a Doctor. Rance Howard has a small part as a Texas Investor, while voice actor Frank Welker provided the voices of the Martians.
Production
Development
In 1985, Alex Cox pitched the idea of a film based on the Mars Attacks trading card series as a joint-production to Orion and TriStar Pictures. He wrote three drafts over the next four years, but was replaced by Martin Amis before Orion and TriStar placed Mars Attacks in turnaround.[4]
In 1993, Jonathan Gems, a screenwriter who had previously written multiple unproduced screenplays for director Tim Burton, approached the director and pitched the idea of turning both Mars Attacks and Dinosaurs Attack! into movies.[1] While both Gems and Burton realized that a Dinosaurs Attack! film would be too similar to Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park (1993),[5][6] Burton believed that a Mars Attacks! adaptation could function like a 1970s disaster picture with an ensemble cast; he and Gems consequently rented a copy of the movie The Towering Inferno (1974) and watched it for inspiration. In a later interview, Gems explained: "After seeing that [movie] it all came to me fairly quickly. And, in about a week, I had it roughed out: the story and the characters. And when I finished it, I realized it was inevitably going to be – it couldn't help being – a portrait of America because, following the Irwin Allen formula, I'd sketched out a range of different characters from different walks of life, and placed the action in different locations – in this case: California, Nevada, Kansas, New York, Mount Rushmore in Washington D.C."[7]
Burton, who was busy preparing Ed Wood (1994), believed that Mars Attacks! would be a perfect opportunity to pay homage to the films of Edward D. Wood Jr., especially Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), and other 1950s science fiction B movies,[1] such as Invaders from Mars (1953),[8] It Came from Outer Space (1953),[6] The War of the Worlds (1953), Target Earth (1954), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) and Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956).[1]
Burton set Mars Attacks! up with Warner Bros. and the studio purchased the film rights to the trading card series on his behalf.[9] The original theatrical release date was planned for the summer of 1996. Gems completed his original script in 1994, which was budgeted by Warner Bros. at $260 million. The studio wanted to make the film for no more than $60 million.[10] After turning in numerous drafts, the studio grew frustrated with Gems after insisting he remove the film's cold open, specifically "the cows on fire"; they demanded there be no burning cows, but Gems contends he couldn't devise another sequence (albeit anything he and Burton could agree improved on his initial "barbecue bovines" prologue). When Gems' latest script revision still included burning cows the studio dismissed him; prior to leaving the project Gems recommended the writing-duo behind[11] Ed Wood, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski,[1] as his replacement(s).[12] Alexander and Karaszewski worked on the film through July 1995, focusing the characters and making the tone less satirical – they re-wrote the third act, incorporating the military and a finale that mirrored Independence Day (1996), according to Gems.[13]
Gems eventually returned to the project, writing a total of 12 drafts of the script (well over 90% of the finished shooting script).[14] Although he is credited with both the screen story and screenplay of Mars Attacks!, Gems dedicates his novelization of the movie to Burton, who "co-wrote the screenplay and didn't ask for a credit".[1] Warner Bros. was dubious of the Martian dialogue and wanted Burton to add closed captioning subtitles, but he resisted.[15] Working with Burton, Gems pared the film's 60 leading characters down to 23 and the worldwide destruction planned for the film was isolated to three major cities. Scenes featuring Martians attacking China, the Philippines, Japan, Europe, Africa, India and Russia were deleted from the screenplay, leaving only Paris, London and the Taj Mahal. "Bear in mind this was way before Independence Day (1996) was written," Gems commented. "We had things like Manhattan being destroyed building by building, the White House went and so did the Empire State Building. Warner Bros. figured all this would be too expensive, so we cut most of that out to reduce the cost."[10] Further discussing the differences between Mars Attacks! and Independence Day, Gems stated, "Independence Day is more like a movie called Fail-Safe and Mars Attacks is like Dr. Strangelove", in that both films had a similar story, but with different tones.[16]
Casting
The decision to hire an A-list ensemble cast for Mars Attacks! parallels the strategy Irwin Allen used for his disaster films, notably The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and The Towering Inferno (1974).[1] Jack Nicholson, approached for the role of the President, jokingly remarked that he wanted to play all the roles.[17] Burton agreed to cast Nicholson as both Art Land and President Dale, specifically remembering his positive working relationship with the actor on Batman.[1]
Susan Sarandon was originally set to play Barbara Land before Annette Bening was cast.[17] Bening modeled the character after Ann-Margret's performance in Viva Las Vegas (1964).[6] Hugh Grant was the first choice for Professor Donald Kessler, a role which eventually went to Pierce Brosnan.[18] Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton and Stockard Channing were considered for First Lady Marsha Dale, but Glenn Close won the role.[17] In addition to Nicholson, other actors who reunited with Burton on Mars Attacks! include Sylvia Sidney from Beetlejuice (1988), O-Lan Jones from Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Danny DeVito from Batman Returns (1992), continuing Burton's trend of recasting actors several times from his previous works.[19]
Filming
The originally scheduled start date was mid-August 1995, but filming was delayed until February 26, 1996.[18] Director Tim Burton hired Peter Suschitzky as the cinematographer, because he was a fan of his work in David Cronenberg's films. Production designer Wynn Thomas (A Beautiful Mind, Malcolm X) intended to have the war room pay tribute to Dr. Strangelove (1964).[21] During production, Burton insisted that the art direction, cinematography and costume design of Mars Attacks! incorporate the look of the 1960s trading cards.[8]
On designing the Martian (played by Burton's girlfriend Lisa Marie Smith) who seduces and kills Jerry Ross (Martin Short), costume designer Colleen Atwood took combined inspiration from the playing cards, Marilyn Monroe, the work of Alberto Vargas and Jane Fonda in Barbarella (1968).[22] Filming for Mars Attacks! ended on June 1, 1996.[23] The film score was composed by Burton's regular composer Danny Elfman, to whom Burton was reconciled after a quarrel that occurred during The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), for which they did not co-operate in producing Ed Wood (1994). Elfman enlisted the help of Oingo Boingo lead guitarist Steve Bartek to help arrange the compositions for the orchestra.[1]
Visual effects
Tim Burton initially intended to use
When the budget was projected at $100 million
Soundtrack
Mars Attacks! | ||||
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Soundtrack album by | ||||
Released | March 4, 1997 | |||
Recorded | 1996 | |||
Genre | Soundtrack | |||
Length | 46:44 | |||
Label | Atlantic Records | |||
Producer | Danny Elfman | |||
Danny Elfman chronology | ||||
|
The film's music was composed by Danny Elfman. The soundtrack was released on March 4, 1997, by Atlantic Records.
Track listing
All music is composed by Danny Elfman (except "Indian Love Call", written by Otto A. Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II and Rudolf Friml, performed by Slim Whitman and "It's Not Unusual", written by Les Reed and Gordon Mills, performed by Tom Jones)
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Introduction" | 1:40 |
2. | "Main Titles" | 2:22 |
3. | "First Sighting" | 1:26 |
4. | "The Landing" | 6:01 |
5. | "Ungodly Experiments" | 0:53 |
6. | "State Address" | 3:06 |
7. | "Martian Madame" | 3:02 |
8. | "Martian Lounge" | 2:54 |
9. | "Return Message" | 2:17 |
10. | "Destructo X" | 1:17 |
11. | "Loving Heads" | 1:20 |
12. | "Pursuit" | 2:55 |
13. | "The War Room" | 1:31 |
14. | "Airfield Dilemma" | 2:05 |
15. | "New World" | 1:45 |
16. | "Ritchie's Speech" | 3:09 |
17. | "End Credits" | 3:53 |
18. | "Indian Love Call" | 3:08 |
19. | "It's Not Unusual" | 2:00 |
Total length: | 46:44 |
Reception
Release and box office
Warner Bros. spent $20 million on the movie's marketing campaign; together with $80 million spent during production, the final combined budget came to $100 million.[24] A novelization, written by screenwriter Jonathan Gems, was published by Puffin Books in January 1997.[25] The film was released in the United States on December 13, 1996, earning $9.38 million in its opening weekend. Overall, it would rank in second place at the box office below Jerry Maguire.[26] Mars Attacks! eventually made $37.77 million in U.S. totals and $63.6 million elsewhere, coming to a worldwide total of $101.37 million.[27]
The film was considered a
Critical reception
The film received mixed responses from critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 56% based on 86 reviews, with an average rating of 6.00/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Tim Burton's alien invasion spoof faithfully recreates the wooden characters and schlocky story of cheesy '50s sci-fi and Ed Wood movies – perhaps a little too faithfully for audiences."[30] On Metacritic, the film received a score of 52 based on 19 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[31]
Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "B" on a scale of A+ to F.[38]
Awards
Mars Attacks! was on the shortlist for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects nominations, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences selected Independence Day, Dragonheart, and Twister instead.[39] The film was nominated for seven categories at the Saturn Awards. Danny Elfman won Best Music, while director Tim Burton, writer Jonathan Gems, actor Lukas Haas, costume designer Colleen Atwood and the visual effects department at Industrial Light & Magic received nominations. Mars Attacks! was nominated for both the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film (which went to Independence Day)[40] and the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.[41]
See also
- List of films featuring miniature people
- List of films featuring extraterrestrials
- List of films set in Las Vegas
- Mars in fiction
References
- ^ ISBN 0-571-22926-3.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Gates, Anita (December 15, 1996). "Mars Attacks!". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 26, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
- ^ Fountain, Clarke. "Mars Attacks!". Allmovie. Archived from the original on October 7, 2012. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
- ^ Alex Cox. "Writing". Archived from the original on February 23, 2014. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
- ISBN 9781916246041.
- ^ Premiere.
- ISBN 9781916246041.
- ^ a b Susan Stark (December 7, 1996). "Director Tim Burton Rebels in His New Space Comedy". The Detroit News.
- ^ Cindy Pearlman (December 8, 1996). "Today, Vegas: Tomorrow, The World! Mean Little Green Guys Attack Earth". Chicago Sun-Times.
- ISBN 9781916246041.
- OCLC 1338306930.
- OCLC 1338306930.
- OCLC 1338306930.
- ^ Henry Sheehan (December 27, 1996). "Yak-Yak Is Way Martians Communicate". The Orange County Register.
- ^ Ferrante, Anthony C. (January 1997). "Duck for Cover when Mars Attacks". Fangoria (159): 30–35, 79.
- ^ a b c Jeff Gordinier (February 23, 1996). "Jack's Back". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 27, 2009. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
- ^ a b Staff (1995-07-28). "Target Hollywood". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2012-03-01. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
- ^ a b "About the Production . . ". Warner Bros. Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
- ^ "'I Knew It Had to Be Sexy' – The Voice of Scream's Ghostface Speaks". Vice.com. 29 October 2019.
- ISBN 1-58063-162-2.
- ^ Richard Natale (November 21, 1997). "Art of fantasy". Variety. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2009.
- ^ a b Staff (August 23, 1996). "Fall Movie Preview: December". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 27, 2009. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
- ^ Bernard Weinraub (January 2, 1997). "Season of Many Movies, but Not Many Hits". The New York Times.
- ISBN 9780140385878. Archivedfrom the original on July 1, 2013. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
- ^ "Mars Attacks!". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on May 14, 2009. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
- ISBN 978-0-7145-3132-8.
- ^ John Dempsey (January 22, 1997). "USA Network trumps net window for six features". Variety. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2009.
- ^ "Mars Attacks!". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on February 27, 2009. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- ^ "Mars Attacks! (1996): Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
- ^ Roger Ebert (December 13, 1996). "Mars Attacks!". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on April 15, 2005. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
- ^ Kenneth Turan (December 13, 1996). "Mars Attacks! Tim Burton's Plan 9". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
- ^ Desson Thomson (December 13, 1996). "Mars Attacks! We Lose". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
- ^ Richard Schickel; Richard Corliss (December 30, 1996). "A Rich Film Feast". Time. Archived from the original on October 1, 2015. Retrieved April 15, 2009.(Subscription required.)
- ^ Jonathan Rosenbaum (December 12, 1996). "Flirting With Disaster". Chicago Reader. Archived from the original on December 9, 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
- ^ Todd McCarthy (December 2, 1996). "Mars Attacks!". Variety. Archived from the original on February 3, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2009.
- ^ "Cinemascore". Archived from the original on 2018-12-20.
- ^ Andrew Hindes (January 9, 1997). "7 pix set to vie for 3 Oscar f/x noms". Variety. Archived from the original on July 4, 2011. Retrieved April 12, 2009.
- ^ "Past Saturn Awards". Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. Archived from the original on 2011-05-12. Retrieved April 14, 2007.
- ^ "1997 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Awards Organization. 26 July 2007. Archived from the original on March 2, 2009. Retrieved April 13, 2009.
Further reading
- ISBN 978-0-14-038587-8.
- Karen Jones (November 1996). Mars Attacks! The Art of the Movie. ISBN 978-0-345-40998-0.
- Thomas Kent Miller. Mars in the Movies: A History. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2016. ISBN 978-0-7864-9914-4.
- Ron Magid. "Attack Formation" in Cinescape, Volume 3, Number 4. Lombard, IL: MVP Entertainment, Inc., January/February 1997.
- Jonathan Gems. Mila Pop. (April 2021). Mars Attacks Memoirs. autobiographical. Quota Books. ISBN 9781916246041
External links
- Official website
- Mars Attacks! at IMDb
- Mars Attacks! at AllMovie
- Mars Attacks! at Rotten Tomatoes
- Mars Attacks! at Box Office Mojo
- Mars Attacks (complete card set) (archive) – from trading-cards.org
- Mars Attacks (Don Markstein's Toonopedia) (archive) – from the 2012 original